Sing Jesus into Your Heart

Frank

“That if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

“Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” (1 John 4:2)

I’m driving home from work the other day listening to some lesson on Christian radio when it comes time for the standard invitation to pray Jesus into your heart. I change over to the 24-7 Christmas station and hear this verse from Silent Night, “Christ our savior is born. Christ our savior is born.”

Something hit me. I don’t know whether to call it a dichotomy or a paradox. But the above passages that justify salvation via a prayer in the comfort of my own car while cruising alone down the highway aren’t limited by the tradition of the “sinner’s prayer.” In fact, could they not extend to our favorite Christmas hymns? Consider:

  • “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.” -O Come, All Ye Faithful
  • “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!… Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!” -Joy to the World
  • “The King of kings salvation brings, Let loving hearts enthrone him.” -What Child is This?
  • “Christ the savior is born… Jesus, Lord at thy birth” -Silent Night
  • And the entirety of Hark the Herald Angels Sing is a song of praise for the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

So considering the basis for praying Jesus into your heart, could not one be saved simply by singing one of these traditional songs of worship?

As you ponder this doctrinal loophole, consider its implications. A local radio station effectively goes off-air from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas to play nothing but Christmas hymns and carols. Yes, many are secular. But others have such theological depth that you cannot help but to praise God while singing along. These same songs fill our shopping malls and department stores. School choirs and bands practice these songs for months to prepare for the annual Christmas concert (where they are still allowed to do so). Television schedules Christmas specials while movie producers plan their releases to time with the holiday season.

Two thousand years later, the whole world stops what it is doing and changes course. All because of a little baby born in a manger.

Now I’m not necessarily suggesting that one can “come to Christ” by singing along to a Christmas hymn, but I am suggesting that maybe these songs are the only glimpse of Jesus someone else may see. If we can go door knocking to invite someone to church, shouldn’t the same principle apply when we go door to door caroling?

These are more than just favorite traditional songs. They are hymns of worship and praise. Come, let us adore Him!

The Internet Fan

Frank

The first chapter of Kyle Idleman’s Not a Fan is titled D.T.R. for “define the relationship”. Makes sense. Like a good technical paper, we want to define terms up front. And since the focus of this book is our relationship with Jesus it is best to define where we’re at right from the start.

Are you a follower or a fan? Yes, it’s that simple. Are you in the heat of the game or are you in the stands cheering?

It may not be an obvious difference, but the difference is huge. You might say, eternal. Of course the instinct is to answer with an emphatic “follower!” That’s how I would have answered the first 24 years of my life. (at least once I was old enough to speak) But once challenged to look back at the choices I made and the priorities of my life weighed against God’s own Word, I saw that I was just a fan.

Eleven year later, by no means do I consider myself to be perfect. Today I’m still tempted to be just a fan. It’s easier to sit in the stands and play Monday morning quarterback on internet forums. (sitting faceless behind a computer screen and writing this blog without ever actually doing anything) Being in the game is hard. It risks injury. It risks defeat.

Like I said, easier to be an internet know-it-all. This reminds me of a Bud Light “Real Men of Genius”. (Don’t know if this ever was an actual add, but it circulated on sports forums and fits perfectly to this discussion. Though the version I remember had a verse about criticizing athletes for their performance though you’ve never once played the game, you still get the gist.) Read this and ask yourself again if this could describe you.

***

Bud Light presents…Real Men of Genius

“Reeeeal Men of Geeeeniuuuus…”

Today we salute YOU, Mr. Really Mad Internet Sports Fan

“Mr. Really Mad Internet Spo-orts Fan!”

Only YOU can fully appreciate the mind-blowing tragedy of a bunch of 18-22 year old athletes you’ll never meet, losing a game.

“Don’t you TAAAAALK to me about perspective!!”

While others are too preoccupied with things like real life, you take your anger directly to the place where it will make the absolute least possible impact: An Internet discussion forum.

“Loggin’ on now!”

Your unique eye for logic allows you to sling turds of doom every which way, and then brag about how you were RIGHT as soon as one of the pieces sticks to the wall regardless of how many dozens fell limply to the floor before that.

“See I told yooooooooou!!”

And if some idiot newspaper columnist has the gall to not be as incensed as you are, you unleash your fury down upon him with all the tenacity and mercilessness of a rabid pit bull with a tender buttock locked in its jaws.

“Total anonymity!”

So keep clicking away, oh Marauder of the Mousepad. Because when the results you so desire finally come about years from now, you can say it was because YOU demanded it.

“How come they haven’t fired that clown, yet? Mr. Really Mad Internet Spooorts Fan”

Anheuser-Busch St. Louis, Missouri…

***

Let’s try a not-so-creative rewrite:

Water to Wine presents, Real Fans of Jesus

Real Faans of Jeesuuuuus!

Today we salute YOU, Christian blogger!

Here’s to youuu, Christian blog er!

You had an emotional response at a Christian rock concert and now you want everyone to know!

I went to this concert and all I got was saved… and this t-shirt… and this Jesus fish for my car… and this NOTW sticker…

You read a best seller and want everyone to live a Crazy Radical Wild life in devotion to Christ.

You’re preaching to the choir!

But don’t dare disagree with your doctrine or you’ll release the fury of a thousand Twitter followers.

Farewell Rob Bell!

And don’t expect you to practice what you preach. You’re too busy reading everyone else’s blogs, following your Twitter stream, and updating your Facebook account to actually step outside and live like Jesus.

Follow my tweets as I follow the tweets of Christ!

So keep pecking away at your keyboard, Christian blogger, calling out every moral slight. Because since you know Jesus, you also know you’re right and everyone else therefore is wrong.

Do as I say, not as I do because I’m a Christian blogger!

Water to Wine, Jerusalem

Under-horses

Frank

So the Bowl Championship Series match ups are set and we are lucky enough to watch a rematch of Alabama and LSU in the BCS shampionship, er I mean championship. But where is the underdog? The dark horse? Where is the Boise State-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl or the Utah-Alabama Sugar Bowl? No such luck this year.

But everybody love to cheer on the underdog (except for the rabid Sooner and Tide fans in the games above). Why is that? What captures our collective conscience when it comes to cheering for the little guy?

That, and more deep thoughts related to sports and football in particular, will be reflected on over the next few weeks as I go through Kyle Idleman’s book, Not A Fan. Please join me in the weeks ahead as I explore the difficult question, am I a fan or a follower?

But in the meantime, some tunage:

Counting the Cost (of college)

Frank

I haven’t had the chance to get online much lately, so I’ve been checking other blogs and news remotely on the run. Yesterday, these three articles were literally lined up in my Google Reader, so I figured that’s too much of a coincidence to pass up. It’s odd to see this much coverage right now. College application deadlines aren’t for another couple of months and it’s been a couple of months since the annual “best of” lists for colleges were released. So maybe they’re filling a slow news day. Anyway, all three articles tackle student load debt and the cost of college. If you’re in that stage in life or have children approaching that milestone decision, these are worth reading:

God Sets the Lonely in Families

Frank

It was our second date. My wife-to-be and I were browsing books at Borders and making small talk. She was talking about her family and her childhood. She said something about her birth certificate and I told her mine was the same.

She was stunned, unable to process what I just implied. In all her time praying to God for a husband who is like this, from there, does that… one prayer always stood out, that he would understand her like no one else could. And my nonchalant comment sealed the deal in her heart. (Me, I was slower on the uptake. It took me a couple more months to recognize what God was doing.)

You see, I could understand her like no one else could because like her, I am adopted.

I admit I have selfishly held this post back. November is National Adoption Month. I’ve been wanting to post something. I have friends who have adopted. We’ve made efforts to get tied in to the local Foster system. And there are a hundred other better reasons to post this than my own selfishness. Because writing this is hard. It exposes emotions, and I don’t like to feel. But today, Thanksgiving, I realize I am thankful for nothing greater because I see God’s divine providence at work in my life and my wife’s through our adoptions.

“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27, emphasis added)

So as I thank God today for my family and the course my life has taken I cannot ignore the role my adoption played. So I thank God that I was adopted. And I thank God for my friends who have adopted or taken in foster children from the inner city to China and everywhere in between. I thank God on behalf of all those who now have homes who otherwise would not.

But the work is not done. Davd Platt shares in Radical Together how he approached the county Department of Human Resources to find out how many families it would take to meet all the adoptive and fostering needs in the county. He was told 150 families. When he invited his congregation to a later meeting if they were interested in serving in this way (after preaching from James 1:27) 160 showed.

I heard on the radio the other day that there are more Christian Churches (broadly defined) than there are foster children in North America so if every church only took in a single child, that need could be completely eliminated. I have trouble believing that when I see the needs in my own community. In California there are 63,000 in foster care and 12,000 children waiting for adoptive families.

And so I thank God for those who are presently moved to meet this need. One of my blogger buddies, Jason Stasyszen is going through the process to adopt from Japan. You can follow that progress on their Facebook page. Here’s a video they put together. (grab a tissue)

Thank you God for blessing me with a family who loved me and raised me. Thank you for the same for my wife. Thank you for bringing the two of us together. Thank you for those who have hearts for the fatherless. Move our hearts to not be ignorant of their needs. Thank you for the many blessings you have given us so that we can share them with those in need. Amen.

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:5-6)

On the Verge

Frank

I try not to be too self-serving in my posts, but this was too good to pass up. If you’ve never heard of Verge, it’s a conference and ministry whose mission is to encourage and equip “Gospel-centered missional communities”. I admit to finding them by accident through their YouTube channel. I’m an unashamed Francis Chan junkie, but I discovered more there than just Chan: tips on how to be missional, other speakers/authors like Alan Hirsch and Matt Carter, and through their links, articles on building missional communities, how to build a culture of disciples making disciples, and so on.

So here’s the deal. I want to go to their conference this year. I’m not interested in any specific speaker, or checking out the music scene of Austin, but I want to fellowship with others who are like-minded to seek and save the lost, make disciples who make disciples, and practice the pure and faultless religion of taking care of orphans, widows and our communities in need.

I’ve already been piling on to my reading list thanks to Verge: For the City by Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter and Building a Discipling Culture and Covenant and Kingdom by Mike Breen. Now I want to learn practicals- hands on and first hand from those doing it.

So here’s what I need from you. Follow Verge on Facebook. Then when all the entry blogs are posted, vote for your favorite. It’s that simple. Thanks for your support!

Label or Content?

Frank

Which of the following lyrics would you expect to hear on a Christian radio station? (answers at the end of the post)

  1. Save me, I’m lost. Lord, I’ve waiting for you.
  2. My tongue dances behind my lips for you
  3. All alone, smoking his last cigarette, where were you?
  4. I wanna get right with God, you know you gotta get right with God
  5. You make my teeth clench and my hands shake, do you ever see what you do to me?

What defines “Christian music”? (I’m thinking specifically here of Christian rock. Worship music and Christian pop are a little more obvious.)

Is it the record label? Switchfoot brushed off the description and for a long time resisted playing in Christian festivals even though their first label before going mainstream was Christian rock powerhouse Tooth and Nail.

Is it where it is sold? Evanescence vehemently opposed the description even though their first album was heavily promoted in Christian stores by their label. It took a near lawsuit to remove their album from the shelves.

Is it the radio station that plays it? Take the lyrics above. Sometimes you can find more redemptive value in mainstream rock than in some songs that are labeled Christian. I’ll cheat and give you one answer from above- #5 above is from Anberlin’s “Impossible” and is played frequently on Air1. The chorus, “Take what you want from me, it means nothing now…” sounds like surrendering to God. But the verses have more of a double entendre. The song, thematically, is very similar to Hoobastank’s “The Reason” yet Hoobastank pulls a fast one in their video.

Disciple, Thousand Foot Krutch, Flyleaf, POD I first heard on the “new rock” stations. Switchfoot, Lifehouse, Mat Kearney, Anberlin, Mutemath I am just as likely, if not more so, to hear on an alternative hits station.

Is it the faith of the artist? Mat Kearney was interviewed a year or so ago in Relevant magazine and didn’t once mention God. Yet, he has become more explicit in expressing his faith on his second album.

Flyleaf has been quoted, “I don’t know what you mean by a “Christian rock band.” It’s hard to say that because people all have a different definition of what that means. If it means that we’re Christians, then yeah, we’re Christians, but if a plumber’s a Christian, does that make him a “Christian plumber?” I mean we’re not playing for Christians. We’re just playing honestly and that’s going to come out”

Meanwhile, Chad Wolf from Carolina Liar (not a “Christian” band) said about his song (#1 above), “If someone thinks I’m singing about God in this song then I’m honored to have made that connection.”

Or go back to Anberlin and their lead singer Stephen Christian, “I don’t care who listens to our records. If it helps people in whatever circumstances they’re in, that’s amazing, but I definitely don’t classify us as a Christian band.” and elsewhere, “[My faith] affects every single aspect of my life, but I’m not a preacher, I’m an entertainer.”
 
My favorite though has to be from Switchfoot frontman Jon Forman, “For us it’s a faith, not a genre.”

And isn’t that the bottom line? Isn’t the label Christian about describing one’s faith, not one’s marketing campaign? If the stats are correct that roughly 80% of Americans call themselves Christian, then wouldn’t it follow that many music artists would identify themselves as Christian? And wouldn’t it therefore be expected that those values come through in their music even if not labeled as such?
 
Listen outside of the box. You might be surprised what you hear.
 
(And the answers above: 2, 3, and 5 receive regular airplay on Christian stations. 2-Flyleaf “All Around Me”, 3-The Fray “Where Were You?”, 5-Anberlin “Impossible”. #1 is Carolina Liar “Show Me What I’m Looking For” and #5 is Lucinda Williams “Get Right With God”.)

Point Of View

Frank

This picture was a hit on the interwebs last week. Follow the link to the original and instructions on how the picture was made.

Step away from your computer, what do you see? But come closer and the image changes. Yet again, what do you see?

Even though the image in your mind is different, in both cases you see the same thing- a face. It is only as your point of view changes that the image changes.

When I saw Peter pick the topic of “secular” for his blog carnival I was stumped. But then my wife found a picture on Pintrest that uses one of the Urban Dictionary’s definitions of Christianity:

The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree…

Yeah, Christianity makes perfect sense.

And I remembered the picture above. (Yes, my brain works in odd ways. I’m having that checked) But the point that stood out to me was that the “definition” above is only one point of view. Secular it may be, but is it really that far off?

Before you scream “blasphemy!” consider- your perspective and my perspective are different. If we were to each give a description of Jesus, chances are we would say different things. You say loving, I say faithful. You say merciful, I say bold. We could go on and on. Francis Chan makes that point in Crazy Love with respect to God- that if every person in the world used a different word to describe God, we would run out of people before we ran out of words. Your experience with Jesus is different from mine. Different still from the secularist. Yet like in the picture above aren’t we all seeing the same thing, Jesus?

So the Urban Dictionary description makes Christianity sound crazy. But isn’t it, really? Has Christianity in our day and age become so “normal” that we forget just how crazy it is to give up everything and follow a Jewish zombie that told us to eat his flesh and drink his blood to atone for some internal demon that we all have just because some naked chick in a garden ate the fruit of a magical tree because a snake told her to? I’m not offended by this. My faith in Christ is crazy, I am ready to admit. But that’s just my perspective.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. This week’s topic is “secular“. Be sure to click the link to check out other posts and other perspectives.

All Things to All Men

Frank

Tomorrow, Seventh Day Slumber’s new album, “The Anthems of Angels” drops. This band is a case of those “behind the music” clips on the radio working. I bought their last album, “Take Everything” after hearing about the band on Air1. Their song, Oceans from the Rain, received a lot of airplay, but I didn’t know anything about the band. But when I heard that they were motivated to do a worship album to praise God for delivering them (namely, lead singer Joseph Rojas) from their addiction, I had to check them out. As an alcoholic myself helping to lead a recovery ministry, I was drawn in. Needless to say, despite calling myself a metal-head, their hard-rock versions of songs I knew well like I Can Only Imagine were disarming, yet authentic. Once I got used to the driving chords, I now listen to that album frequently as their harder edge more often reflects how I feel than softer versions of the same songs from Chris Tomlin or Mercy Me.
I am also inspired by lead singer Joseph Rojas’ testimony. Check out the video below.

Now, there’s a lot I don’t agree with doctrinally. But in dealing with addiction I have come to the conclusion that the Grace of God is not limited; that the redemptive, healing power of Jesus knows no lines. I praise God for his recovery and his ministry.

Seventh Day Slumber catches a lot of grief for their ministry. Being rooted in the Bible Belt, they face their fair share of fundamentalism condemning their image and their music. But to quote Paul, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23, emphasis added) The tatted-out, hard rock, felon and addict may be the only Christian some may ever know. He is likely the only Christian some will ever trust.

If you haven’t heard this band, I encourage you to check them out. They’re not what you might expect. But isn’t that just how God likes to work?

Below is the first single of their new album, Love Came Down

Green Eggs and Sin

Frank

***Update: Added the full Green Eggs and Sin poem at the end of this post.***

So I mentioned I liked Sunday’s sermon so much I would dedicate two posts to it. Click here for part 1 (and an awesome video!). You can also listen to the whole thing here.

That was the meat of the sermon. But the outline was taken from Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham. In that story, Sam I Am pesters an unnamed man to try green eggs and ham.

Would you eat them in a house? Would you eat them with a mouse?

The man resists and resists.

I will not eat them on a boat! I will not eat them with a goat!

After running though nearly every scenario imaginable (I mean, who eats with a mouse or a goat?), the man (SPOILER WARNING!!!) gives in and tries this unique delicacy.

And. It. Is. Delicious!

Satan is the same way. He pesters and pesters, pokes and prods.

(In fact Satan was pestering Ivan during the sermon. His phone went off. The wireless mic wasn’t working. And the video I shared Monday didn’t play.)

Will you sin in your house? Will you sin with your mouse (click)?

And sometimes we get so tired of resisting we give in. And sin tastes delicious! Just ask Eve.

But remember what I referenced Monday: if you “resist the devil, he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) Think about how adamant the man was against trying the green eggs and ham. That is how we must oppose Satan’s schemes.

I will not sin here nor there! I will not sin ANYWHERE!

Here’s the full version. All credit goes to my friend, Ivan Strean. I’m not that creative!

Would you could you in your house?
Would you could you with your mouse?
Would you grumble will you groan?
Would you be with your girlfriend alone?
Will you have sin in your life?
Would you sin against your wife?
Will you allow yourself to hate?
Would you could you? It’s your fate!
Do you need to make your relationships deeper?
Are you really your brother’s keeper?
All this work seems hardly fair.
No one else does, so why should you care?
Do you need to read you Bible every day?
Aren’t you tired, why go pray?
Haven’t you heard all He has to say?
Who needs church anyway?
To which I reply:
I will not sin in my house.
I will not sin with my mouse.
I refuse to grumble or to groan.
I will not be with my girlfriend alone.
I will not have sin in my life.
I will always love my wife.
I won’t allow myself to hate.
Understand this… It’s not my fate!
I will make my relationships deeper.
And yes I am my brother’s keeper.
I know God’s will and it’s totally fair.
I know my brothers and sisters and they totally care!
So I will read my Bible every day.
And I’m never too tired to pray.
I haven’t yet heard all He has to say.
And everyone needs church anyway.
No I will not sin here nor there!
Nope I won’t sin anywhere!
Satan, Satan, can’t you see?
I won’t life in sin
so GET BEHIND ME!